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NYC air traffic controller recalls his experience working on 9/11: 'Completely aghast'
Christopher Tucker, an air traffic controller in New York City on the morning of September 11, 2001, said the day started off just like any other, but quickly became the most unforgettable of his long career. (www.foxnews.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
I was in line at a DFW AA gate for a 9:30 flight to Boise. Back then as you will recall, you could get your boarding passes at the gate as security was totally relaxed. As the gate agent handed me my boarding pass his phone rang. I heard him say "one of ours?", and he walked away from the counter. At that moment, the CNN TV monitors in the airport lit up like crazy telling what had just happened. Everyone just froze and looked at the screens. That gate agent came back sobbing and continued to hand out boarding passes to a flight that would never leave. I felt strange and afraid to be in the airport. Wanted to get the hell out now as if we were the next target. After about an hour DFW shut down the tv monitors. Terminal PA Announced that they were closing DFW, and that those with checked bags could return later in the day to retrieve their luggage. My associate and I was left and went to the DFW Embassy Suites lounge to watch the news for hours. Went back to retrieve our bags about 3:00PM. Security was everywhere inside and out. That was just the beginning of the major change in travel for the rest of our lives.
FWIW, I was changing hydraulic filters in the cargo compartment of a C-130H at the Milwaukee AF Reserve base. The plane was undergoing a periodic inspection. Can't remember if it was that day or shortly thereafter that management ordered us to conclude the inspection ASAP and get the plane ready for real-world missions. And, being located at Gen. Mitchell IAP was weird when all the the civilian flights were grounded.
That is a day I will never forget. I watched it all unfold on CNN, and even after I got to work, there was very little being done because everyone was glued to the tv. Rest in continued peace for all of those who lost their lives.
I was on duty with a CLE suburban Fire Dept. Came in from checking the equipment and everyone was staring at the tv, in silence, and disbelief. I asked what was going on and they told me that the first tower was hit. Shortly after, the second hit occurred. As we stood there frozen by what we were watching, we were put on alert, as a report that another plane had entered CLE airspace! We didn’t know what to expect, only that if a plane came down near us, we would definitely be called to assist Cleveland Fire and other area departments. It turned out to be Flt 93 that was westbound, but turned back towards the east and eventually crashed in Shankesville, Pa. That experience, and the fact of later finding out that that plane was probably headed for the White House, is permanently etched in my memory. RIP everyone who perished, and all the First Responders who gave their lives trying to save people.
We as Americans owe every ATC person our deepest gratitude for their actions on that day. How the heck did they get thousands of plane down safely so fast. It was a modern miracle.
So very true!